Although there are a great many well known composers of Carnatic music, it is customary to think of them as being pre and post “Trinity” which is the term by which Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri have collectively come to be known.

Purandara Dasa (1491–1564) is known as the father (Pitamaha) of Carnatic music because of his pioneering contributions. Purandara Dasa is known for formulating the basic lessons of Carnatic music. He structured graded exercises known as Swaravalis and Alankaras and introduced the Raga Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learned by beginners. He also composed many simple Gitams (songs) till which are taught to students to the present day.

The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1759? – 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776–1827) and Syama Sastri, (1762–1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music because of the quality of their compositions and the influence they had on the development and performance of Carnatic music. Being contemporaries, they have met and have even collaborated. The influence of royal patronage, history and culture led to Telugu and Sanskrit being the main languages for their compositions. Through the influence of the powerful and evocative poetry in their music, Carnatic Music came to be primarily a vocal music form and instrumentalists play the same compositions that are sung by vocalists. There is not a separate tradition of composing instrumental music.

Composers of Carnatic music were usually scholars proficient in one or more of the languages Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu. They usually included a signature, called a mudra, in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyagaraja (who composed in Telugu) have the word Tyagaraja in them, all songs by Muthuswami Dikshitar (who composed in Sanskrit) have the words Guruguha in them, songs by Syama Sastri (who composed in Telugu) have the words Syama Krishna in them, while Purandaradasa, who composed in Kannada, used the signature Purandara Vittala. Gopalakrishna Bharathi used the signature Gopalakrishnan and composed in Tamil. Papanasam Sivan, also composed in Tamil as well as Sanskrit, and used the signature Ramadasan.

Due to the absence of complete historical records and manuscripts, there is some measure of controversy surrounding the dates and numbers of compositions attributed to the Trinity and pre-trinity era composers. There is also controversy and disagreement about the authenticity of certain compositions attributed to these composers. The dates and the numbers of compositions in the table below cannot be easily verified.

Pre-Trinity Composers (Before 18th Century)

Composer

Years

Languages

Approx. Number of Compositions

Other Info

Akka Mahadevi

12th century

Kannada

Annamacharya

1408 – 1503

Telugu, Sanskrit

50,000

Arunachala Kavi

1711 – 1788

Tamil

Arunagirinathar

15th century

Tamil

Composed Tiruppugazh

Basavanna

12th century

Kannada

Composed Vachanagalu

Jayadeva

12th century

Sanskrit

50

Composed Geetha Govindam

Bhadraachala Raama daasu

1620 – 1688

Telugu

500

Kshetragna

1600 – 1680

Telugu

100

Marimutthu Pillai

1717 – 1787

Tamil

Muthu Thandavar

1525 – 1625

Tamil

Narayana Teertha

1650 – 1745

Telugu, Sanskrit

200

Composed Krishna leelaa Tarangini

Paidala Gurumurti Sastri

17th century

Telugu

Papanasa Mudaliar

1650 – 1725

Tamil

Purandara Daasaru

1491 – 1564

Kannada, Sanskrit

50,000

Sarangapani

17th century

Telugu

Sripadaraya

1404 – 1502

Kannada

Trinity-Age Composers (18th Century)

These composers lived during the time of the Trinity and there are recorded instances of their interaction with the Trinity.

Composer

Years

Languages

Approx. Number of Compositions

Other Info

Ghanam Krishna Iyer

1790 – 1854

Telugu

Iraiyamman Tampi

1782 – 1856

Malayalam, Sanskrit

Kavi Kunjara Bharati

1810 – 1896

Tamil

Muthuswami Dikshitar

1775 – 1835

Sanskrit, Mani Pravaalam

400

Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi

18th century

Sanskrit, Tamil

200

Pacchimiriam Adiyappa

18th century

Telugu

Thanjavur Quartet

18th century

Sanskrit, Tamil

Tiruvarur Ramaswami Pillai

1798 – 1852

Tamil

Thyagaraja Swami

1767 – 1847

Telugu, Sanskrit

50,000

Sadasiva Brahmendra

18th century

Sanskrit

Syama Sastri

1762 – 1827

Telugu

400

Post-Trinity Composers – 19th Century

Composer

Years

Languages

Approx. Number of Compositions

Other Info

Subramaniya Bharathiyar

1882 – 1921

Tamil,Sanskrit

Annamalai Reddiyar

1865 – 1891

Anai Ayya brothers

19th Century

Telugu

20

Dharmapuri Subbarayar

19th century

Telugu

50

Composed many Jaavalis

Ennappadam Venkatarama Bhagavatar

1880 – 1961

Gopalakrishna Bharathi

1811 – 1896

Tamil

50

Koteeswara Iyer

1870 – 1940

Tamil, Sanskrit

200

Composed in all 72 Melakarta raagas

Kurainadu Natesa Pillai

1830 – 1925

Krishnarajendra Wodeyar III

1799 – 1868

Sanskrit, Kannada

Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer

1844 – 1893

Sanskrit

100

Composed 72-Melakarta raaga maalika

Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbayyar

19th century

Telugu

50

Desciple of Thyagaraja

Mayuram Viswanatha Sastri

1893 – 1958

Telugu, Sanskrit

50

Muthiah Bhagavatar

1877 – 1945

Telugu, Sanskrit

200

Mysore Sadasiva Rao

b. 1790

Telugu, Sanskrit

100

Mysore Vasudevacharya

1865 – 1961

Telugu, Sanskrit

250

Neelakanta Sivan

1839 – 1900

Tamil

100

Pallavi Seshayyar

1842 – 1905

Telugu

Papanasam Sivan

1890 – 1973

Tamil, Mani Pravaalam

300

Patnam Subramania Iyer

1845 – 1902

Telugu

100

Pattabhiramayya

19th century

Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar

1860 – 1919′

Telugu

100

Subbarama Dikshitar

1839 – 1906

Telugu

50

Subbaraya Sastri

1803 – 1862

Telugu

100

Son of Syama Sastri

Swati Tirunal

1813 – 1847

Sanskrit, Hindi, Malayalam, Mani Pravaalam

200

Tiruvottriyur Tyagayyar

1845 – 1917

Tamil

50

Veena Kuppayyar

1798 – 1860

Telugu

100

Desciple of Thyagaraja

Post-Trinity Composers – 20th Century

Composer

Years

Languages

Approx. Number of Compositions

Other Info

Dandapani Desikar

1908 – 1972

55

GN Balasubramaniam

1910 – 1965

Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil

90

K. R. Kedaranathan

1925 – 2007

Lalgudi Jayaraman

b. 1930

30

Maharajapuram Santhanam

M. Balamuralikrishna

b. 1930

Telugu, Sanskrit

200

Composed in all 72 Melakarta raagas

M. D. Ramanathan

1923 – 1984

Sanskrit

300

Mysore V. Ramarathnam

1917 – 2008

L. Subramaniam

b. 1947

N. Ramani

b. 1934

10

N. Ravikiran

b. 1967

Sanskrit, Tamil

50

Ganam (Ganasaraswathy)

‘

Tamil, Sanskrit, Mani Pravaalam

600

http://www.ganam.org

Nallan Chakravartula Krishnamaachaaryulu

1925 – 2006

Sanskrit

30

Periyasaamy Thooran

1908 – 1987

Tamil

305

S. Ramanathan

1917 – 1988

Tamil

50

Other Composers

Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893 – 1979) [1]

K.M. Soundaryavalli (July 22, 1914 – October 8, 1994)

Mangalam Ganapathy

N. S. Ramachandran

Tanjavur Sankara Iyer

K. R. Kumaraswamy Iyer

Tanjavur S.Kalyanaraman

Tirupati Narayanaswami Naidu

Kadaloor M. Subramaniam

Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati

Ragasri Kumaramangalam Srinivasaraghavan

Other Composers in the Mysore Kingdom

Vaikunta Dasaru (1680)

Veena Venkata Subbiah (1750)

Shunti Venkataramaniah (1780)

Aliya Lingaraja Urs (1823 – 1874)

Chinniah (1902)

Krishnappa

Veena Chikka Lakshminaranappa

Veene Krishnappa

Piteelu Seenappa

Bhairavi Lakshminaranappa (1878 – 1934)

Pedda Lakshminaranappa

Devalapurada Nanjunda

Veena Shamanna (1832 – 1908)

Veena Padmanabiah (1842 – 1900)

Veene Sheshanna (1852 – 1926)

Mysore Karigiri Rao (1853 – 1927)

Veena Subbanna (1861 – 1939)

Bidaram Krishnappa (1866 – 1931)

Tiruppunandal Pattabhiramiah (1863)

Sosale Ayya Shastry (1854 – 1934)

Rallapalli Anantha Krishna Sharma (1893 – 1979)

Jayarayacharya (1846–1906)

Giribhattara Tammayya (1865 – 1920)

Nanjangud Subba Shastry (1834 – 1906)

Chandrashekara Shastry

Veena Subramanya Iyer (1864 – 1919)

Veena Shivaramiah (1886 – 1946)

Veena Venkatagiriappa (1887 – 1952)

Belakawadi Srinivasa Iyengar (1888 – 1952)

Chikka Ramarao (1891 – 1945)

Mysore T. Chowdiah (1894 – 1967)

Jayachamaraja Wodeyar (1919 – 1974)

Dr. B. Devendrappa (1899 – 1986)

Gotuvadyam Narayana Iyengar (1903 – 1959)

Tiruvayyar Subramanya Iyer

Anavatti Rama Rao (1860)

Tiger Varadachariar (1876 – 1950)

Chennakeshaviah (1895 – 1986)

Titte Krishna Iyengar (1902 – 1997)

S.N. Mariappa (1914 – 1986)

Chintalapalli Ramachandra Rao (1916 – 1985)

R.N.Doreswamy (1916 – 2002)

H.M. Vaidyalinga Bhagavatar (1924 – 1999)

Bellary M Seshagiri Achar (1935 – 1985)

Other Composers – The Bhakti Saints

In addition to the above composers, various Bhakti saints of medieval India also composed devotional hymns, verses and songs. These compositions, though strictly not of Carnatic or classical character, have contributed to the gradual evolution of the Carnatic musical tradition over the centuries. the Bhakti movement continued to be a strong influence in Carnatic music through the ages and to this day; both in compositions and in performance.